Germany July 2012 Private Sales: Dacia Duster #7!

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JLKN *

Thanks to JLKN I can share with you for the second time on BSCB what people really buy with a Top 20 Private Sales ranking. And like for the 6 months 2012 ranking, there are surprises aplenty… The usual suspects are on top: the VW Golf logically leads with 7,506 sales followed by the VW Polo at 4,340. But it’s the Mercedes B-Class that climbs on the third step of the podium (vs. #5 in the general ranking) thanks to 4,221 units sold and an excellent 73% Private Sales (PS) ratio.

VW Up!

#3 over the first 6 months 2012, the VW Tiguan ranks 4th in July with a robust 62% PS ratio, ahead of the Mercedes C-Class at 44%. Already #7 over 6 months, the VW Up! does even better in July and snaps up a shiny 6th spot with 2,044 sales, note however that its PS ratio is down slightly at 52% this month vs. 55% year-to-date, perhaps the sign that rental companies are starting to buy the Up! in droves.

Seat Ibiza

But the biggest surprises are yet to come… Similarly to France where Dacia placed the Duster at #5 and the Sandero at #9 over 6 months 2012, the French/Romanian brand does not sell much to rental companies or administrations and as a result the Dacia Duster ranks at an amazing 7th place in the Private Sales ranking (vs. #33 overall) with 1,915 sales and a stunning 90% PS ratio, by far the best in the Top 20. In the overall ranking, you will never see a foreign model placed that high (except in 2009 when cash-for-clunkers messed up everything) so it is quite revealing to see that ‘true’ German consumers actually buy foreign brands en masse as well as their national ones.

Audi Q3

The second foreign model in the Top 10 is only ‘half-foreign': the Seat Ibiza is at an extremely solid #8 with 1,865 sales and a 76% PS ratio, compared to #28 in the overall ranking. The Audi Q3 is already quite successful overall at #26 in July but enormously more so with private buyers: it is #9 this month with 1,705 units and a huge 68% PS ratio, now the brand’s best-seller at home…

Hyundai ix35

Other great performers with private buyers in July are the Smart Fortwo at #12 and 70% PS ratio (vs. #30), the Audi A1 at #13 and 55% (vs. #22), the Toyota Yaris at #14 and 79% (vs. #39), the Nissan Qashqai at #15 and 58% (vs. #29) and the Hyundai ix35 at #20 and 75% (vs. #43), making it 6 foreign models in the Top 20. Reversely, the Opel Astra (32%) and Ford Fiesta (33%) deliver the lowest Private Sales ratios in the Top 20.